What does it mean when a certain song is stuck in your head?

An earworm, sometimes referred to as a brainworm, sticky music, stuck song syndrome, or, most commonly after earworms, Involuntary Musical Imagery (INMI), is a catchy and/or memorable piece of music or saying that continuously occupies a person’s mind even after it is no longer being played or spoken about.

How long can Earworms last?

Defined by researchers as a looped segment of music usually about 20 seconds long that suddenly plays in our heads without any conscious effort, an earworm can last for hours, days, or even, in extreme cases, months.

Are Earworms real worms?

Has an earworm crawled into your head and started gnawing on your brain, looping a specific song until you go crazy? Although not literally worms, the process of having a song stuck in your head affects most of the population.

Are earworms common?

Earworms or stuck song syndrome Recurring tunes that involuntarily pop up and stick in your mind are common: up to 98\% of the Western population has experienced these earworms. Usually, stuck songs are catchy tunes, popping up spontaneously or triggered by emotions, associations, or by hearing the melody.

Why do earworms occur?

Earworms can be caused or triggered by the most recent song you listened to, a song or tune listened to repeatedly, a song listened to during a period of stress, or a song that connects to past events or memories.

Why is it called an earworm?

The English word is actually centuries old and was another name for the earwig, which got its name from the belief (happily, very wrong) that they crawled into people’s ears. Hence, earworm.

Can’t sleep because a song is stuck in my head?

The phenomenon mentioned above in the form of a Full House reference is an actual thing called “earworm,” which is the scientific term for when you have a song stuck in your head. For most, having an earworm is a short-lived annoyance that goes away as soon as they focus on another cognitive task.

Why are some songs earworms?

Earworms can occur due to the brain’s attempt to fill a gap in the auditory cortex, which is located in the temporal lobe. When you hear a song over and over, the brain transmits that sound information to the “phonological loop,” a short-term memory system in the auditory cortex.

Is it normal to always have a song stuck in your head?

Recurring tunes that involuntarily pop up and stick in your mind are common: up to 98\% of the Western population has experienced these earworms. Usually, stuck songs are catchy tunes, popping up spontaneously or triggered by emotions, associations, or by hearing the melody.